When a soldier comes home...

When a soldier comes home, he finds it hard....

...to listen to his son whine about being bored.

....to keep a straight face when people complain about potholes. to be tolerant of people who complain about the hassle of getting ready for work.

...to be understanding when a co-worker complains about a bad night's sleep.

...to control his panic when his wife tells him he needs to drive slower.

..to be compassionate when a businessman expresses a fear of flying.

....to keep from laughing when anxious parents say they're afraid to send their kids off to summer camp.

....to keep from ridiculing someone who complains about hot weather.

.....to be civil to people who complain about their jobs.

....to remain calm when his daughter complains about having to walk the dog.

.....to just walk away when someone says they only get two weeks of vacation a year.

....to be forgiving when someone says how hard it is to have a new baby in the house.

The only thing harder than being a Soldier.. Is loving one.

Combat Actoin Badge

My trip to COP (Combat Outpost) Wilderness... It's way up high in the mountains. Too mountainous to have guard towers like the rest of the COPs have. They have little observation posts on the tops of the surrounding mountains. While I was there, we received a mortar attack, and a mortar landed right outside the entrance to the COP. I was safe because the room I was in is a bunker. But it was close enough to get me my combat actoin badge! That's exciting. It was also the first time our own artillery shot AT the enemy instead of illumination rounds or shooting just to scare them. It was pretty fun. Other than that it was a pretty boring trip.

No one on our side got hurt. However, at the same time they were
shooting at the COP, they were shooting at a district center, which is
basically like a town hall. They killed one innocent bystander out
there and injured one other. We don't know if we killed any of the
bad guys, because the Ranger unit did the recon to find out, and they
don't report to us. They do their own thing.

-Ben

More Pics from Ben:

Toby KeithSorry that I haven't been updating this. I have been so busy with taking care of grandpa, taking classes and working. I will be graduating this December with a graphic design degree. I am so excited! I am currently in Lynchbug, VA and loving it!

Hello All

Hello everyone! I'm tired of Afghanistan and ready to come home. 2 months down, 10 to go. I just have to do what Ive done 5 more times. Well, the job is doing OK. It's very busy every day lately. We've been having things to do pretty much all day every day. I think I talk on the phone too much. I'm trying to type this post on a cell phone, so it will be short. I have a headache tonight anyway. I hope everyone is well. I am (except for my headache). The days go by. I just can't wait till 365 of them have gone by. Have a good one everybody!!

One month in

So I've officially been here a month now. Actually over a month. Only 11 more to go! Woo hoo! Well, things aren't se bad here. People bring entertainment. Lately we've been finally catching up with our work in te S4 shop, to where we actually get off before we have to go to bed. We've been watching LOST, beginning with episode 1. It's a fantastic show to get caught up in.

Communication has actually been very good from Gardez. I get to talk to Lauren almost every day, and I have regular access to my personal email. I guess I'm lucky I sit behind a computer all day. One of the perks of a staff job I guess. I shoul dbe getting my own personal internet soon, from a cell phone provider here called Afghan Wireless. The nation's largest cell phone service is ROSHAN with about 47% of the market, but they don't have internet!! Supposedly, they have 3G service here in Gardez. Woah!

Thanks to EVERYONE for keeping me in your prayers! It has kept me going strong for a month so far. But later is when I'm going to need prayer the most, 3/4 through the deployment when I'm REALLY ready to come home!

My job is going really well so far. It seems people are happy with you when you are nice to them. I'm not sure previous units had figured that out. Some locals have told me that people are much happier with our unit, because we actually care about them and treat them like humans. When you take the time to listen to their concerns and do something about them is when you "win hearts and minds". Maybe you've heard about the recent suicide bombings in the country. One was in downtown Kabul, about 2 weeks ago. They killed 20 coalition forces soldiers, and countless civilians. The general population completely hate the Taliban. Then, during the Muslim new year (this past weekend), a suicide bomber killed some civilians celebrating the new year in some random village. It's rediculous what the Taliban do. It's also rediculous to me (and to several locals I've talked to) what someone has to go through to become a suicide bomber. I mean, come on. Who in his right mind would strap 100 pounds of explosives on their chest, march into a crowd, and blow themselves up?? Only someone who thought God told them to do it I guess......

That's about all for now. Y'all have a nice day, and don't forget to write!!

-Ben

Pics from Ben

Here are some pictures Ben sent me! Hopefully he'll have more for us!

Ben and I: Dropping him off :(

On the way to Gardez: 1,000 feet above the village

On the way to Gardez

On the way to Gardez

Ben's bedroomBen's office

FOB Gardez
Sunset from Ben's officeOne of Alexander the Great's outposts as seen from FOB Gardez

Livin the Life

Hi all.

I'm here in Afghanistan living the life. It's an adventure every day. It's interesting to see a unit try and take over where another unit left off. There's a lot of catching up to do for everyone. It's really a lot of work winning the fight against an insurgency. Any insurgency is difficult to beat. Especially in difficult terrain in a foreign culture. The people here are very different. They live differently, have different values, and express themselves differently. It's even more different living in a Pashtun area. Pashtuns have "Pashtunwali", the Pashtun way of life, which supercedes Islam in some ways. It's very interesting working with these people on a daily basis.

It's been a loooong day today fixing problems. Tomorrow will be another long day. I'll get back soon!

Ben